Competition is a keyword of (post)modern societies. But agonism and competition were also omnipresent in the early modern period, in the form of conflicts of rank, honours, competition between denominations, the struggle for resources or rivalry between colonial powers. Nonetheless, until the 18th century, agonal competition was morally objectionable. There was tension between the dynamics of competitive relationships and their perception on the part of the actors, which often ignored the aspect of competition. The contributions documented in this volume to the 13th workshop of the Early Modern Age working group in the Association of German Historians, which took place in Rostock in September 2019, are dedicated to him. They deal with how constellations of rivalry and competition were evaluated in pre-modern societies, how competition was more or less successfully contained, what dynamics it set in motion and in which fields it was partly covert and partly open. From this perspective, dealing with competition is a key to understanding the system of norms and values of the early modern period.